Man guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of FSU student

Quentin Marcus Truehill turns toward the gallery during his murder trial in front of Judge Raul Zambrano, in the St. Johns County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon, February 12, 2014. Truehill is being tried for first degree murder and kidnapping in the death of Vincent John Binder.

A jury took less than three hours on Tuesday to find Quentin Truehill guilty of first-degree murder and kidnapping in the death of a Florida State University graduate student.

Truehill, a 26-year-old man from Louisiana, was arrested on April 12, 2010, in Miami along with two other men about two weeks before Vincent Binder’s body was found in a St. Johns County field.

Truehill and co-defendants Peter Marcus Hughes, 26, and Kentrell Johnson, 43, are all charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in Binder’s death.

The men escaped from a Louisiana prison, and investigators believe they stole a pickup truck from a nearby home and robbed people, including Binder, on their way to Miami.

The jury spent most of last week hearing the state’s evidence and witnesses, but their work is not over. Judge Raul Zambrano ordered the jury to return on March 3 to begin the penalty phase.

The state is seeking the death penalty for all of the defendants. In Truehill’s case, the jury must decide whether to recommend a sentence of life in prison or death.

A photo of Vincent Binder at a store in Tallahassee flashed up on a projector screen in the courtroom as the state began its closing argument.

“Within a couple of hours he would be on the most terrifying ride of his life,” said prosecutor Mark Johnson.

Prosecutors said evidence shows Truehill, Kentrell Johnson and Hughes worked together in their escape from prison and other crimes, including robberies on the way to Miami, and they believed evidence showed they worked together to kidnap and kill Binder.

Investigators used video recordings of Truehill and Kentrell Johnson at locations along the way, transactions made on Binder’s debit card and testimony from witnesses to track the movements of the defendants and to link them to the killing.

During the trial, four people testified that the men robbed them, and a few of them said Truehill held a knife during the attacks.

One woman said her skull was fractured and some of her fingers were cut off in an attack in Pensacola.

Binder was studying for a master’s degree in media and communications. He was originally from Brooklyn, N.Y.

Defense attorney Raymond Warren had said earlier that much of the state’s case was based on inferences.

Prosecutors said the state had proven that Truehill willingly participated in the kidnapping and slaying of Binder.

They also proved that Binder struggled to survive as he was killed in a field near Florida 16 and Interstate 95, Mark Johnson said.

Among the cuts and hack marks on his body, Binder had defensive wounds, and some of his fingers were severed. “When the end came for Vince, he fought for his life. Now, in this phase of the trial, the evidence fights for justice in this case,” Mark Johnson said.